Accrington Pals by William Turner

Author:William Turner
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781473811621
Publisher: Pen and Sword

Bombers, Signallers, Lewis-gunners went in their turn. Lt. Rawcliffe took in his newly for-med Stokes Mortar team.6

The men reached the front line through a maze of shallow communication trenches starting inside the ruins of the Sucrerie (a ruined sugar-beet factory) some half mile from the front line. The trenches steadily deepened as they neared the front line. The front line trenches were cut at varying depths in the chalky soil and revetted in places by timber supports. The trenches, about four feet wide at the base, were drained by sumps cut into the floor and covered by duck-boards every few yards. Originally dug by the Germans in 1914, the trench firing-steps (a shelf cut into the trench side for snipers and sentries) and parapets were on the wrong side, consequently front line duties became mainly construction and repair work as shallow parts were deepened, firing-steps re-dug and new parapets strengthened with the spoil.

A number of fifteen man sections went to different parts of the front line for twenty-four hour periods. Pte. Pollard awaited his turn.

“As men came back, they said, ‘It’s very quiet, there’s nowt going on down yon’. The rest of us waiting to go still had mixed feelings — keen to experience it, yet apprehensive. Sam Smith, our section corporal, said ‘George, don’t say anything to anybody. I’ll put your name down for tomorrow to ‘go over the top’ — as if he were doing me a favour. I went in as reserve with the Lewis-gunners. We marched from Colin-camps to Sucrerie, a ruined sugar-beet factory astride the communication trench. Our guide was a Royal Engineer. On our way in we met another section coming out. I saw Harry Kay. Harry said, ‘Do you want this steel helmet?’ I said, ‘What for, if it’s so quiet?’ At that precise moment, I heard cries of ‘Make way! Make way!’ We stood aside for stretcher-bearers carrying someone with a blanket over him. Some silly fool said, ‘What’s to do with him?’ My answer was ‘Give me that bloody helmet!’”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.